Background info: I'm a 57 year old woman who has been teaching Spanish in public high schools in Wisconsin for 22 years. My husband is 68, has a TEFL certificate, and has been teaching government at a 2 year college for years. We are permanent guardians of our 5 year old grandson.

If we are both TEFL certified, how likely is it that we can obtain work teaching English in Latin America? How about Vietnam? Thailand? I have read several sites that don't want teachers over 50. We are both young-at-heart and ambitious (I just learned to ride unicycle!) We would also need to enroll our grandson in school, not necessarily where we are teaching but that would be a plus.

Background info: I'm a 57 year old woman who has been teaching Spanish in public high schools in Wisconsin for 22 years. My husband is 68, has a TEFL certificate, and has been teaching government at a 2 year college for years. We are permanent guardians of our 5 year old grandson.

If we are both TEFL certified, how likely is it that we can obtain work teaching English in Latin America? How about Vietnam? Thailand? I have read several sites that don't want teachers over 50. We are both young-at-heart and ambitious (I just learned to ride unicycle!) We would also need to enroll our grandson in school, not necessarily where we are teaching but that would be a plus.

From your living room in the States there probably isn't anywhere that will give you a 2nd look once they see your ages.

On the ground in Asia is another matter entirely.
As a certified teacher you can certainly get work (at something better than a basic EFL wage) in most places (including Thailand and China).

At 68, (I assume he has post grad credentials since he was a college teacher) your husband will have problems but, if he is in-person, will be able to find work.

Schooling for the child is another matter. English only or international schools ARE EXPENSIVE. At 5, if you are willing to lose an academic year, he is young enough to be dropped into a bilingual program (probably where you will be working) and he will catch up quickly.

Distance learning (there are a number of correspondence schools that are pretty decent) is also an option.

There is no "norm" in China. Depends on the administration at the school. Last term there was a married couple here, he was 67, she was 64; they were offered renewals. I was offered a five-year contract when I arrived, which would have put me at 64 at the end had I accepted (I didn't, I told them we could re-negotiate on a yearly basis).

Exactly 68? No. (Wise guy here.) I know one man in Zhengzhou who is 73. My 67-year-old former colleague will be returning to China in the fall for a position in Guangdong. When it ends he will be 68. I've heard of others.

My dad's 80 and was a mechanical engineer turned trial attorney. Absolutely no ESOL qualifications whatsoever and he taught in China short term (I mean he'd teach for a few months then return to the US and do his thing-he retired very young and mostly sails and travels) He did this for 3 or 4 years, apparently they loved him and kept asking him back. This was in his 70's. He got the job in the US. He also taught in Nicaragua (somewhere in CA but not positive where) but I believe it was in a law school.
So yes, you may be limited in your options and choices but there will be schools who will take you.

A school where I did a few English corners had an old American guy staying there (looked in his late sixties)

Everybody had to call him "grandpa". I asked him what his name was and he said "everyone just calls me grandpa". Anyway, he used to like to take the young girls into his apartment for bible reading lessons.

I have never heard of people being TAKEN ON at those advanced ages. KEPT ON maybe !! Renewal or new hire ?

I agree that this in a very important distinction. A new applicant is in an entirely different (and much less advantageous) position than an already in-place teacher with local experience. The prospects of being a new hire are substantially less than those of being offered a contract renewal. When we hear anecdotes of a 70-year-old, for example, working in China, they are almost without exception about someone who has been able to continue working there, not about a new arrival.

Latin America, however, is a region where age is not the issue that it is in the Middle East and China. Also, tttompatz makes a very importent point: you will not find work from home; you will have to be in country presenting yourselves in person.

A school where I did a few English corners had an old American guy staying there (looked in his late sixties)

Everybody had to call him "grandpa". I asked him what his name was and he said "everyone just calls me grandpa". Anyway, he used to like to take the young girls into his apartment for bible reading lessons.